Glyceria alnasteretum
Glyceria elata
Aleutian glyceria
fowl manna grass, tall mannagrass
60-90 cm tall, 2.5-4 mm thick, erect.
75-150 cm tall, 2.5-8 mm thick, spongy, decumbent and rooting at the lower nodes.
smooth, not keeled;
ligules 2-3 mm, rounded to truncate;
blades 5-20 cm long, 3-7 mm wide, abaxial surfaces smooth, adaxial surfaces scabrous, apices acute.
scabridulous or hirtellous, not or weakly keeled;
ligules 2.5-4(6) mm, truncate to acute, erose, puberulent;
blades 19-40+ mm long, 6-12(15) mm wide, abaxial surfaces smooth or scabridulous, adaxial surfaces usually scabrous, sometimes scabridulous.
15-22 cm long, 12-16 cm wide, open, pyramidal, erect to nodding;
branches 8-10 cm, lower branches widely divergent to drooping.
15-30 cm long, 12-30 cm wide, pyramidal, open;
branches 12-17 cm, divergent to drooping, lax, with 30-50+ spikelets;
pedicels 0.3-5 mm.
7-9 mm long, 3-4.5 mm wide, with 5-8 florets.
3-6 mm long, 1.5-2.8 mm wide, laterally compressed, oval in side view, with 3-4(6) florets.
unequal, lanceolate, acute;
lower glumes 2-3.5 mm;
upper glumes 2.5-3.5 mm, longer than wide;
lemmas 3-5.5 mm, 7-veined, obtuse to acute;
paleas shorter than or subequal to the lemmas, keels not winged, apices not strongly incurved, emarginate between the keels;
anthers 3, 0.7-1.2 mm.
1-1.5(2) times longer than wide, narrowing beyond midlength, veins terminating below the apical margins, apices obtuse to rounded;
lower glumes 0.7-1.5 mm;
upper glumes 1-1.5 mm;
rachilla internodes 0.5-0.6 mm;
lemmas 1.7-2.2 mm, oval in dorsal view, 5-7-veined, veins raised throughout, scabridulous, apices rounded, prow-shaped;
paleas subequal to or often slightly longer than the lemmas, lengths 2.4-3 times widths, oval in dorsal view, keels not winged, tips pointing towards each other, apices narrowly notched between the keels;
anthers 2, 0.5-0.8 mm.
not seen.
0.8-1.5 mm long, 0.5-0.7 mm wide;
hila as long as the caryopses.
= 20.
= 20.
Glyceria alnasteretum
Glyceria elata
Glyceria alnasteretum is included in this treatment with some hesitation, based on van Schaack 724 (W'l'LJ 152646) and van Schaack 887 (MO 1710727), both collected at Signal Point, Attu Island, Alaska in 1945. The above description is based on Komarov (1963) and Koyama (1987), modified to reflect the wider panicles and longer glumes and lemmas of the van Schaack specimens. The difference in habitat is troubling. The van Schaack specimens were found "in a beachside meadow" and "near beach." Koyama describes the habitat of G. alnasteretum as "wet meadows and marshes at high altitudes as well as subarctic zone" (p. 114). Nevertheless, the van Schaack specimens fit the description of G. alnasteretum better than any other taxon in this treatment. Clearly, further investigation is called for; it should include plants from both sides of the Bering Strait.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Glyceria elata grows in wet meadows and shady moist woods, from British Columbia east to Alberta and south to California and New Mexico. It is not known from Mexico. The anomalous record from Georgia may represent an inadvertent introduction. It is very similar to, and sometimes confused with, G. striata, but the two sometimes grow together and show no evidence of hybridization. Their differences in growth habit and stature are evident in the field. Molecular data (Whipple et al. [in press]) confirm that G. elata and G. striata are distinct, closely related entities.
Glyceria elata is also sometimes confused with G. grandis. It differs in having rounded glumes with veins that terminate below the apices, more readily disarticulating florets, and greener lemmas with more prow-shaped apices, as well as in having paleal keel tips that point towards each other. In its overall aspect, it also resembles G. pulchella, but has somewhat more lax panicle branches than that species, in addition to smaller spikelets and florets.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
